Garmin Car GPS questions

[bigfilsing]

Seriously considering getting a car GPS unit. I find my trips to various industrial locations becoming more frequent and taxing.

I've already set my sights on a Garmin Unit . My question is i can;t really see the difference between the 2 series and the 7 series. Well at least not anything that justifies the 300 buck difference in price.

Any and all comments/experiences welcome

Cheers

[puppi]

Seriously considering getting a car GPS unit. I find my trips to various industrial locations becoming more frequent and taxing.

I've already set my sights on a Garmin Unit . My question is i can;t really see the difference between the 2 series and the 7 series. Well at least not anything that justifies the 300 buck difference in price.

Any and all comments/experiences welcome

Cheers

I just got a super no-name set, from a Singapore supplier,latest updated SG &MLY map, It is very useful, If u interested of it, let me know. puppiwu@gmail.com Good luck.

[bigfilsing]

Thanks for the reply and no offence mate but the whole point of a forum ( well one of them anyway) is to post back and share the info.
Would love to know what it is and a web site or similar and f course how much. But just post the details here.

Thats if you're not the supplier who's advertising of course

Cheers

[LoriW]

I don't have a Garmin, but when I bought my satnav, I decided on the make (tomtom) and bought the most current bottom of the range model Personally, I think that Garmin is probably the best one to buy in singapore - since Tomtom doesn't appear to be popular or available.

Because it is a Garmin unit, it will be reliable - the worst thing with satnav in my opinion is that some may take a little while to pick up the signal.

Generally, the higher up the range you go, the more "gizmos" there are such as bluetooth, MP3 player, traffic receivers, bigger screen. All depends on what you want personally.

I just wanted a reliable box to get me from A to B and if you're saying that you can't find anything in the pricier model which justifies $300 extra, you're probably thinking along the same lines.

Singapore is a tiny place with guarnteed traffic jams you stand no chance of getting out of so I'd say you don't need a gizmo to tell you how stuck you are. MP3 player ....... why? If you have a decent car stereo/MP3 player use that!

[ksl]

Seriously considering getting a car GPS unit. I find my trips to various industrial locations becoming more frequent and taxing.

I've already set my sights on a Garmin Unit . My question is i can;t really see the difference between the 2 series and the 7 series. Well at least not anything that justifies the 300 buck difference in price.

Any and all comments/experiences welcome

Cheers

I actually purchased my Garmin 760 from Ebay in the USA. and saved 250$ I couldn't find it any cheaper in Singapore it was between 650 and 750$ This was last November.

It came with all the USA maps and traffic, which cannot be used here of course, but the maps you can down load free from a few website.

I have two, I have a little street pilot, which convinced me to get the 760 which i can use on foot...the latest chipset is the Sirf3, I believe.

There are a few no name brands, here in Singapore that work just as well, but the cost was around 400$ and the reason why I decided to buy the Garmin 760 on ebay, for 400$.

Doesn't matter which model if its got the latest chipset, the speed of picking up the sats will be the same. I have noticed on cloudy days, it takes longer to locate the sats, and sometimes cannot, if the kids have been messing with the settings .

Also no maps that i know of are 100% correct.

I have all the Garmin maps for Asia, Aus, HK, Taiwan, Thailand, and i have also Mapking of Singapore, which is more up to date. Garmin is pretty rubbish with updating Singapore, and work here is rapidly changing.

I would buy from ebay, for the best Garmin, much cheaper. BTW they do not work in Tunnels, so maybe you should go for the hand held, that potholer's use.

The main points would be the latest chipset SIRF3 and price, You may want to try my little street pilot out.

[bigfilsing]

Thanks guys.

I've had a garmin 60CS since 2005 and its great. The only issue is the screen size while driving ...not too safe to say the least.

My main reason is after nearly getting wiped out by a truck recently in the Jurong area ..( my fault...trying to use the street book and drive) and i seem to be visiting there more frequently i thought a 4 inch screen with voice instructions may be useful.

KSL you must have read my mind as i just picked up s 255W for US$ 120
I decided all the blue tooth and gizmo's weren't really needed ( for a change ...i normally get sucked in by the gadget fairies)

I use the malsing maps from the web. They are now officilly recognised by Garmin and the forum has plenty of poster and loggers so they just keep getting better and better. They've come up with a cool system where the maps are viewable on your PC but you can only use them on your GPS unit if you have the unlock code. You only get the unlock if you provide input to the group/ forum for the next version . Pretty good sytem and i take my hat off to them for keeping track and administering this system

[notyesnot]

Garmin is not bad.

you can find more information frm www.eastgear.com.sg

that shop is known for selling garmin in SIngapore..

honestly personally i prefering holux..

[bigfilsing]

Garmin is not bad.

you can find more information frm www.eastgear.com.sg

that shop is known for selling garmin in SIngapore..

honestly personally i prefering holux..

I agree the Holux does look nice but what about updating the maps???

[trofian]

I find the Garmin pretty good.

Garmin is not bad.

you can find more information frm www.eastgear.com.sg

that shop is known for selling garmin in SIngapore..

honestly personally i prefering holux..

[easy2findme]

I am using a Garmin Nuvi 205W. It serves my needs. The suction cup works well on the windscreen and the mapping software is useful enough for Singapore and Malaysia.

Unless you need bluetooth connections to tell you directions instead of listening to the inbuilt speaker, i think better save the $300 increase.

There may be lane assist function in the high ends sets but that depends on the map software to help you. The roads here changed ever so much that it is probably better to read road signs than follow the GPS anyway.

[bigfilsing]

Ok so i went with a local set Garmin Nuvi 255W With junction view and lane assist. Works a treat

In the off chance that somebody else reads this . If you are buying in Singapore beware of parralel imports ( Eastgear) . They claim to be singapore units but actually just have some singapore maps on the memory card. They work OK but dont have junction view etc

If any body is interested in knowing the why/what/ where on these units post back and i'll try to explain

Cheers

[moonberrry]

Can you explain a little bit more re. not having junction view? The Garmin 265WT I just picked up from Eastgear does not have it, and I'm beginning to feel that it's a function that could really be helpful for me.

Ok so i went with a local set Garmin Nuvi 255W With junction view and lane assist. Works a treat

In the off chance that somebody else reads this . If you are buying in Singapore beware of parralel imports ( Eastgear) . They claim to be singapore units but actually just have some singapore maps on the memory card. They work OK but dont have junction view etc

If any body is interested in knowing the why/what/ where on these units post back and i'll try to explain

Cheers

[jewi]

Hi bigfilsing,

May I know where can i buy the 255W @ $120, that's a bargain man !

Does it comes with lane assist ?

Pls email me at jewi7@hotmail.com

[jewi]

Hi bigfilsing,

I m thinking of either Garmin 760 or 255W.

Wat do u think ?

Jewi
jewi7@hotmail.com

Thanks guys.

I've had a garmin 60CS since 2005 and its great. The only issue is the screen size while driving ...not too safe to say the least.

My main reason is after nearly getting wiped out by a truck recently in the Jurong area ..( my fault...trying to use the street book and drive) and i seem to be visiting there more frequently i thought a 4 inch screen with voice instructions may be useful.

KSL you must have read my mind as i just picked up s 255W for US$ 120
I decided all the blue tooth and gizmo's weren't really needed ( for a change ...i normally get sucked in by the gadget fairies)

I use the malsing maps from the web. They are now officilly recognised by Garmin and the forum has plenty of poster and loggers so they just keep getting better and better. They've come up with a cool system where the maps are viewable on your PC but you can only use them on your GPS unit if you have the unlock code. You only get the unlock if you provide input to the group/ forum for the next version . Pretty good sytem and i take my hat off to them for keeping track and administering this system

[jewi]

Hi moonberrry

Did yr Garmin bought from EG have the junction view ?

How much u paid , new or refurbished ?
Jewi